Vengeance
by Paralax
Summary: A short look into how far one can bend character relationships. Rated T for abdominal pain, blind anger, and hammocks. First fic, so reviews are greatly appreciated.
1. Head Pain

As a child, Neytiri would retreat to her hammock whenever life became too overwhelming. She would slowly swing back and forth, listening to the rest of the world, and think. It was in her hammock that some of her best ideas came to her, and she grew to rely on it as a source of comfort and knowledge.

Her old hammock burned in the fires of Hometree, but she was able to pull some strings and acquire an extra one from the first batch of hammocks the seamstresses produced. The extra responsibilities and jobs she had to perform had grown exponentially since Hometree fell, meaning that any time spent with the hammock was almost sacred. The Omaticaya's temporary home – a grove of trees near the Tree of Souls – was small. This meant that space had to be rationed, and so the hammock was situated between two trees at the edge of the treeline. Neytiri had a beautiful view of the Tree and the surrounding beauty of Pandora. The sun was setting, a myriad of colors splashing across the sky. She was swinging slowly in a cool afternoon breeze, letting her mind wander and sort itself out.

Something had been bothering her more and more in the past fortnight since the Skypeople were expelled. She closed her eyes, and memories played against the backs of her eyelids.

Finally, she settled on a single memory: the death of her father.

Neytiri replayed it, watching Eytukan, the one who had taught her and given her so much, leave her. She again felt anger at the Skypeople for causing this.

Then Jake walked into her field of vision.

She felt so much hatred for him that it overpowered her mind. She heard herself say that he would never truly be a Na'vi, and left him to fend for himself.

Her eyes opened, the air suddenly feeling a little too cool. Was that what was troubling her lately? Her father's death? She had been blocking out thoughts of him, not having the time or energy to properly mourn his passing.

Was it the Skypeople? Neytiri didn't think so. She had a library of other memories of their cruelty that better personified her extreme dislike for them.

Was it Jake?

Her first reaction was to push that thought out of her mind; Jake had done too much for both herself and the rest of Pandora to deserve hatred in return. But she forced herself to give the idea a second look. She hadn't really been able to talk about that incident. He was busy running a clan, and she was busy making sure the clan didn't fall over dead. By the time the day was over, they both bolted for their hammock and slept.

Maybe that was the answer: talk to Jake about what happened. If she didn't, she feared her emotions might spill out of her all at once at the wrong moment.

A smile played on Neytiri's face; she had a plan, a solution to her problem. She got out of the hammock, rolled it up, and set off back to the camp.

* * *

"Excuse me, miss?" called a voice from behind her. She turned, setting the spare hammock down next to the one Jake and she shared. Three Na'vi stood in front of her. One of them was about a head shorter than the other two. Of the taller, one held a bow of different build than Neytiri's, and the other had a club – very uncommon in these parts. They were all unfamiliar, so she assumed they were from one or more of the tribes that sent warriors over to help expel the Skypeople. This would mean that the three gentlemen in front of her each needed something. Neytiri sighed inwardly, exhaustion washing over her.

"How can I be of assistance?" she asked.

"Pardon the intrusion, Tsahik," said the short one, "but we were wondering where Jakesully is. My companions and I," he motioned to the other two, "need to speak with him about some supplies we need for our journey home."

Neytiri smiled briefly at the mention of the title she acquired during this turbulent time. "I will go and look for him. Wait here."

She walked past them and made her way to the areas of gathering in the Omaticaya's settlement. Asking around, the consensus seemed to be that Jake had not come back from the main hunting trip yet, although most of the others who went with him had already returned, and it was kind of odd that he hadn't come back yet.

Light panic started to creep up inside of her. What happened? It wasn't like him to be late at all; warriors in general were very punctual members of society. So he had been delayed… by what? Neytiri decided to find out for herself.

She had a vague idea of where the hunting party went, so she would head out in that direction first. She quickly went to the Dire Horses' stables, and pulled out one of the horses, murmuring calming words as they became one. The queue connection filled her mind, and she leaped onto the horse.

"Neytiri! Stop!"

Neytiri turned around. The three visitors that asked her about Jake were running up to her. How did they know where she was?

"Where are you going?" they asked.

"I'm going to find Jake. He hasn't come back from his hunting trip yet, and I'm a little worried. I'm sorry that your meeting is going to have to wait, but-"

"I'm sorry, Neytiri," said the short one, "But you are going to have to come with us."

"'Come with you'? Why?"

"Because you must." They ran toward her.

Neytiri and the horse backed away, then turned and started to gallop into the forest. Something large and heavy hit her in the back of the head, and both she and the horse lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

* * *

As Neytiri's mind journeyed back to the world, it became aware of three things. The first was a light throbbing in her head. The second was the cool surface of the tree her back was against. The third was the vines that bound her to the aforementioned plant.

Neytiri's eyes widened as she fully realized the situation she was it. She pulled against the knots in the vines, but they wouldn't budge. Abandoning the effort, she looked around. She was in a small clearing in the forest. Clearing being a relative term in the vast, thick jungles of Pandora. The tree she was tied to was near the south edge of the clearing, and there was other pieces of flora scattered around her. A particularly large root played seat to the bottom of the Na'vi whose club knocked her out. She mentally nicknamed him 'Club'.

His back was facing her, and he was whittling away at a stick with a knife. She looked down at her knife holster. It was empty.

Neytiri sighed. "Hey, can I have my knife back?"

Club turned around. "Oh, you're awake." He looked down at the mini-spear he made. "Sorry about your head."

"I will accept your apology after you untie me. And give me my knife back."

He bit his lip. "Sorry, but I can't do that. He told me not to. Are you sure you're alright. It looked like I hit you pretty hard…"

"I'll be alright. And who told you not to?"

"Ka'li. He's the shorter one. He asked me and my friend to help him bring you here."

"For what reason?"

Club shrugged. "Dunno. You can ask him when he gets back."

"Where is he now."

"Acquiring the second person. You ask a lot of questions." He looked a little annoyed. "I think you should stop," he said, looking at her knife.

They waited for a few minutes in silence, Neytiri watching Club whittle away at another stick. The silence was broken by rustling in the forest closest to Club. He stood up, setting the knife and sticks down on the root he was sitting on.

Ka'li and the third Na'vi who participated in her kidnapping carried a body into the clearing. They set it down, and Neytiri saw that it was a male, but the bag over his head prevented her from seeing who it was. The body started to moan as it regained consciousness. Ka'li grabbed Neytiri's knife from the root and held it to the man's neck, whispering in his ear. Don't try anything stupid.

The body jerked and tried to get away. "Neytiri's here?" He yelled, "Oh you are so dead-"

Ka'li grabbed him by the neck and held the knife to him again, whispering more words. Shut up and cooperate, or die.

"You two are dismissed!" He said to the lackeys. "The things you asked for are waiting for you at your places of rest."

The two looked at each other. Without a word, they bolted into the forest, not wanting to have anything else to do with whatever Ka'li was doing.

Ka'li whipped the bag off of his face, but Neytiri already knew who it was. She recognized the voice, and now the body and face.

Jake.

Ka'li was a dead man.


	2. A Friendly Chat

Jake watched Neytiri struggle against the vines that held her to the tree, shouting threats at Ka'li. He smirked; her love for him was infinite, and she would fight forever if that meant she could be with him again.

After a while, she grew tired and, realizing the futility of her actions, she calmed down. "Are you finished?" he asked.

Neytiri glared at him. "Very well." He turned to Jake. "Hello. I am called Ka'li." He held out his hand for Jake to shake. "This is how you greet other Skypeople, correct?"

Jake showed Ka'li the makeshift handcuffs around his wrists. "Sorry, but I'm a little tied up at the moment. Can I get back to you?"

Ka'li laughed. "Heh, I like your sense of humor. Very… interesting."

"Why are we here?" Neytiri asked.

"To be enlightened, my dear."

"Enlightened of what?"

"Your hatred of Jakesully."

Neytiri paused. "My what?"

"It's simple: You hate Jakesully. You're just not aware of it. Yet."

"Yet?"

He ignored her and walked to a tree at the edge of the clearing. He leaned against it, looking both of them in the eye before inspecting Neytiri's knife. "Neytiri, why did you mate with Jakesully?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

Neytiri raised her eyebrow. "I don't know which tribe you are from, but in the Omaticaya that is a private matter."

Ka'li shrugged. "Fine, then let me rephrase that: Why do you love Jakesully?"

Neytiri answered without missing a beat. "Because he is courageous, fearless and handsome. His heart is strong, and I feel that he was meant for me more than Tsu'tey was." Jake smiled at her words of praise.

"Tsu'tey would be thrilled that you think so highly of him."

"He understood in the end as I did. He was content with how we were, like brother and sister. And he respected Jake and thought of him very highly."

"Aw, shucks," said Jake.

Ka'li turned to Jake. "And now you," he said, "Why do you love her?"

Jake smiled. "Neytiri is beautiful, smart, and knows how to handle a weapon. She's slightly crazy, but in a good way. And I fell that the two of us just… click. I saw it after the first few weeks of her teaching me how to be an Omaticaya, and I just accepted it after a while. When we… joined together, I felt that everything was right, that this was how it was meant to be. And we both fell asleep right afterwards, so that meant that Eywa approved. Happily ever after, right?"

Ka'li had an evil grin on his face. "Wrong, I'm afraid."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"About the fact that Eywa approved of your mating with Neytiri."

"No, we both fell asleep after we were done. At least, she fell asleep. My mind went back to my Skyperson body." He thought about what he said. "Oh."

"See Jake, you did not fall asleep. You awoke. Awoke from your Dreamwalker body."

Neytiri cut in. "Not necessarily. It is not enough to fall asleep after the first mating. There are the dreams. I had the dreams, so Jake must have had the dreams as well."

Ka'li looked at Jake. "Did you have the dreams?"

"What dreams?"

Neytiri sighed. "When two Na'vi mate for the first time, Eywa sends them to sleep. In their dreams, they are shown how their lives would play out if they stayed together. If the dreams are happy, then it is a good couple. If the dreams are not, then the couple is effectively rejected by Eywa. I'm pretty sure I've told you that before."

Jake's brown furrowed. "You might have. Or Dr. Augustine. Or someone else. I don't remember if I had the dreams. But it is not common for Skypeople to remember their dreams, so I might have had them and simply can't recall them. What did you see, Neytiri?"

"We were happy."

"So my dreams would have to have been the same."

Jake heard a 'Yes' from Neytiri and a 'No' from Ka'li at the same time.

Neytiri spoke to Ka'li. "If you are right, then that would mean that Eywa would have lied to one of us. To tell one Na'vi one thing and the opposite to another would imply taking a side in a conflict. Eywa can't do that."

"But She already has."

"When?"

"The Skypeople threatening to take out the Tree of Souls," Jake interjected, "If they won, then the whole planet would have perished eventually. Including Eywa. She was acting in self-defense, protecting herself so that she could protect the rest of Pandora by sending in the animals to help us."

"And why did She have to side with us, Jakesully?"

"I already answered that that: the Skypeople were poised to take out the entire planet."

"And who was responsible for the information that allowed the Skypeople to enter such a position?"

"Well, most of the stuff about the Tree was already known based on what Dr. Augustine. All they really needed was the location, which was easy to get. After that, the plan was simple: blow it up."

"But Hometree wasn't that simple, and its destruction was the event that caused the disintegration of Skypeople-Na'vi relationships. You had admitted shortly before its destruction that you were feeding information about us to them. You were a spy. What information did you give them?"

"I was asked to acquire information about the structure of the Tree. Their scanners could only see the outside of the Tree, and to bring it down they needed to see the inside. Dr. Augustine didn't want to give that kind of information to them, so they asked me what I knew. And I knew enough, apparently."

"Enough to cut it down with metal fire and explosions. Without you, Hometree wouldn't have fallen, and our world wouldn't have been threatened by your people. It's your fault!"

Jake threw up his hands – or tried to – in frustration. "So it is! It's in the past now! What do you want me to do about it?"

"How about at least apologizing? Had you at least thought about doing that yet?"

Jake didn't answer; he couldn't really give a sufficient – or honest – response. "Fine," said Ka'li, "Then why don't you start right now with Neytiri." He pointed at her.

Jake's eyes locked with Neytiri's. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" asked Ka'li.

"For causing all those innocent Na'vi to die."

"I forgive you," said Neytiri, "Besides, it wasn't your fault. You did not kill all of those people, others did. You were only doing what you thought was right."

Ka'li added "And her father?"

Jake eyed him with a lack of understanding. "What about him?"

"He died during Hometree, did he not? Then, as his daughter, Neytiri needs to be able to put the blame on somebody. And seeing as you were the one that caused the events that led to his death..." He trailed off, a grin slowly filling his face.

Jake bit his lip. Not the best time to be admitting things like this, but it had been bugging him for a while. He took a deep breath and said, "Neytiri, I-I'm sorry for killing your father."

He closed his eyes, bracing for verbal impact. So it surprised him a little when he heard sobbing emanating from Neytiri. He opened his eyes, and saw she had broken down, her legs gave way but the bands held her up. Since her hands were tied behind her back, she couldn't cover her tears as they streamed down her face.

Jake hung his head in guilt. He hated that Neytiri was hurting like this, and hated himself for causing the hurt. But it's not like he had a choice, right?

He heard a soft _thump, _and saw the knife sticking out of the ground. "You probably thought I was going to kill you with that," Ka'li said, "but that was just a precaution. This is much more satisfying to watch than you bleeding to death."

Jake gave him a look that could melt rock. "What was the point of that? You didn't accomplish anything other than making her cry."

"Did I? I guess the full impact of this... encounter hasn't been fully realized yet. Oh well, you will see why I did this soon enough." He started to walk into the forest. "Good bye, Jakesully," he called over his shoulder. In a few moments, he became one with the forests, and was gone.

As soon as Ka'li was out of sight, Jake shimmied over and grabbed the knife. Within seconds he had the bands cut off, and walked over to Neytiri. She was calming down somewhat, and that comforted Jake. He finished removing the vines and pulled Neytiri into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She pushed him away, and drew back a couple of paces. "Can we please just start heading back?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Of course, of course." Jake decided that it would be best to give Neytiri some space, and to shut up for a while. Trailing slightly behind, Jake followed Neytiri back to the camp.

* * *

Jake was able to keep his self-imposed vow of silence for about a half-hour.

"Neytiri, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said. That sentence confirmed that she was most definitely _not_ alright yet. She sounded like she was forcing herself to do walk and speak calmly, and that was what was nagging at him.

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"Jake, I'm fine," she said with emphasis. Jake gave her a questioning look, so she sighed and held onto his arm as they continued to walk through the forest. Jake smiled; maybe he was overreacting over the whole thing. They hadn't talked about her dad's death since it happened, so what he said might have opened up an old wound, but nothing too serious. They'd talk about it when she was ready, and problem solved. He jumped down from the branch they were walking on to the ground below, pleased with himself.

He turned to Neytiri, ready to assist her as she made the jump. He looked to up to see that Neytiri had already jumped. And was aiming for him.

Jake tried to move out of the way, but he didn't have enough time, and Neytiri collided with him. The force of the impact caused his knees to buckle, and he fell, hitting his head on a rock. He blacked out for a few seconds, and came back with an image of Neytiri's face, wild and angry. He reached for where he was keeping her knife, but she raised her hand to his field of vision, showing Jake the gleaming blade. He tried to get up, but Neytiri had him pinned to the ground, her strong legs blocking his attempts at movement. His struggling continued until one movement, caused his back to arch too far, and his head touched the ground. Pain seared throughout, and he became still, eyes focused on the blade.

"Neytiri, wait," he said, "Let's talk through this. There's no need for anything drastic."

"You destroyed my home. You killed my father. You disgraced Eywa. We are past the point of talking. Ka'li was right in saying that everything was your fault. Nothing like what has happened in the past month has ever happened in the 15 _years _since the Skypeople first arrived. You are the reason why my life is the way it is, why I have lost so much!" She raised the knife. "This is for Eytukan," she said, "My father, and a better leader than you would have ever been."

The knife came down, and a white-hot spike of pain drilled it's way into Jake's stomach. He cried out, and heard a sound not dissimilar to a baseball bat hitting a tree in response. He felt the force of Neytiri's pin leave him, and the voices of several, familiar people echoed far away in his ears as he drifted away.


	3. The End

Sensory input slowly started to come back to Neytiri. First the pain in her head, as if all of Eywa was trying to jam Herself into her. She cried out, gripping her head and curling into a ball. Her eyes cracked open to view her surroundings; they immediately shut. She was, as far she could tell, surrounded by a bright light. Realizing her observations were wrong, she tried again. The light outside was too bright to look at for more than a few seconds, but she was able to glimpse the Tree of Souls. So she was home. That was good.

Neytiri tried to sit up from the position she was in. She made it about halfway before her vision began to swim. She lay back down, eyes closed to still her mind and stomach. Sleep felt like it would help her. She sighed, trying to calm her mind.

Movement caught Neytiri's ears. She turned her head towards the source of the sound, but her vision began to waver again, so she turned her head back. She heard someone at mixing something next to her. Probably one of the women they had to train as emergency nurses after the influx of wounded warriors. Neytiri hoped that this was one of the better ones; she wanted to see Jake as soon as possible.

Neytiri saw a hand lay a wet cloth on her forehead. The other turned her head and inspected it. Her head began to spin as the hands expertly changed her bandages, shifting her head from side to side so the bands could wrap all the way around her head. The hands then showed her a small green leaf. Neytiri recognized it as one that was commonly used as a pain reliever. She opened her mouth, and the hand inserted the leaf. Within a few minutes, the pain in her head was more tolerable, and, after a few tries, she was able to sit up. "Thank you for your care. You've really done a fine job," she said.

"I would hope so." Neytiri turned her head to meet her mother's eyes.

Neytiri smiled. "I see you, Mother."

"And I see you, as well as the bump on your head. Would you like to explain how you got it?"

Neytiri bit her lip. "How much do you know?"

"I know most of it. But I would like to hear how you saw it."

Neytiri proceeded to explain what happened. She went through everything that had happened that night, not missing a beat until she reached the end. When she got to the part where she stabbed Jake, she trailed off, unable to articulate what she had done.

"Neytiri, you need to finish the story."

"But you already know what happened. Why must I say it?"

"Because you are not accepting that you did it. If you did, they you would be able to say it. Now say it."

Neytiri took a deep breath. "I stabbed Jake."

She felt the words echo in her mind. And the enormity of the whole thing hit her head-on. She grabbed her mother in a tight hug, fighting back the wave of emotions that threatened to overtake her.

When it passed, Mo'at straightened her so they looked at each other in the eyes. "See? Already you are learning."

Neytiri raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You hurt the one you love because you let your emotions take control of you. I know you, Neytiri, and you are a very strong woman. I can see the sadness in your eyes, but also the determination to not let that sadness control you again."

"Or maybe it's because I don't want to break down in front of my mother." Neytiri said with a half-smirk.

Moat laughed. "Or it might be that. But you don't have to appear strong in front of me. I'm your mother, and you shouldn't be ashamed to be yourself in front of me." She hugged her tightly, then released her. "Now go, and speak to Jake."

"Thank you, Mother." Mo'at left the room.

Neytiri grunted, bringing herself to her feet and, after a couple failed attempts, managed to stand up. The ground felt cool against her feet as she set out to find Jake. It was almost dawn, and there were almost no Na'vi to speak to as she made her journey.

She made it to their living space, and found him in his hammock, sleeping. Blood-stained bandages wrapped around his torso, and there were other, smaller wrappings for the other injuries he sustained over the last half-day.

She bit her lip, remembering what her mother had said. She needed to be a strong, in-control person, capable of handling herself and being an effective leader. But also, she needed to be able to be in control of her feelings for other people. It was her inability to do this that led to her being with Jake, and she was lucky it all worked out for them in the end. If something of that magnitude happened again, she might not be as lucky.

Neytiri knelt down next to the hammock, which was suspended between two branches. She held his head close to her chest and cradled it "I'm so sorry," she whispered repeatedly.

She felt two hands against hers. Jake was looking up at her, smiling. Neytiri was confused; could he forgive her that easily?

He pulled her face down to his and kissed her.

Neytiri got into the hammock, being careful not to cause him any pain. She cuddled up next to him.

"Some people hate me," he said.

"People always will because of who you are. But many more will love you for what you did for our home. Including me."

"So about your dad..."

"I forgive you. But I do not have to; you did not kill my father. The hatred between my people and yours killed him."

"And my people are gone, so what will you do about him?"

"I will celebrate everything he did for us, and try to be as good a leader as he."

"So will I."

The two of them watched the dawn break, welcoming a new day.


End file.
